Bowlers need to be more aggressive: Zaheer

Colombo: Removing a couple of Sri Lankan top order batsmen on the truncated opening day was not a bad effort but Zaheer Khan wants his bowling colleagues to be more aggressive on the second day to get early breakthroughs and pin down the hosts in the first cricket Test.

"The first session tomorrow is going to be crucial. We have to maintain the pressure on the Sri Lankan batsmen. We have to be more aggressive and get early breakthrough," said the left-arm seamer, who scalped the crucial wicket of Kumar Sangakkara.

And while the bowlers give their best, others would have to complement them with sharp fielding, he said.

"We gave away one or two boundaries today. We have to field better," he said.

Zaheer said even his side would have liked to bat first on this track but felt there was enough in the pitch for the bowlers.

"No doubt we too would have batted first had we won the toss. This is a good track and there was something in it. We had a short but good session today."

Zaheer, making a comeback after an injury lay-off, said the tour match helped him get into the groove and he did not have any problem on Wednesday.

"That side match was very important for me. I bowled some 25-26 overs which really helped me. It was a good lead-up to the Test.

"There was no problem with my fitness either. Once I had declared myself fit, I was ready for every kind of conditions," he said.

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